Girl, 5, and grandfather drown in Portugal

Rob Hastings

Rob Hastings is Assistant News Editor at The Independent. He has served on the news desk since 2010. While working as a freelance reporter and feature writer he was also published by The Guardian, The Times and the Financial Times.

A five-year-old British girl and her grandfather drowned on a Portuguese beach yesterday, despite rescue workers reportedly spending almost an hour trying to resuscitate the child.

The girl's grandmother was the only survivor after she, her husband and the five-year-old were spotted in the water by fishermen who helped pull them back on to Salgado Beach in Nazare, about 80 miles north of Lisbon, at around 2pm.

The grandmother was taken to hospital. The girl's parents were said to have been on the beach when the victims were apparently dragged out to sea by a large wave. "The grandfather was already dead when he was hauled from the water," Nazare Port Authority commander Albuquerque e Silva told the Portugal News website. "Emergency services attempted to resuscitate the child, but to no avail.

"The two victims, accompanied by the grandmother, went on a stroll away from the Salgado beach, which is under lifeguard surveillance, and must have been knocked over and dragged in by the waves." The Foreign Office said: "We are in touch with the local authorities."